1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nano particle generator, and, more particularly, to a nano particle generator that can reduce power consumption, can be miniaturized, and can generate nano particles having various different material characteristics at the same time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a nano particle is an ultramicroscopic particle having a size of 1 nm to 100 nm. The nano particle has unique physical and chemical characteristics depending upon the size of the particle and the properties of a material.
Recently, continuous attempts have been made to generate nano particles from a material having bactericidal and antibacterial properties, such as gold and silver, or a material having toxic gas adsorption, such as titanium dioxide, thereby achieving bactericidal and antibacterial activities against biological pollutants and removing toxic gases, such as volatile organic compounds (VOC) and ozone by absorption.
An example of a method of generating nano particles is a gas condensing method in which a material is evaporated by heating, and the evaporated gas is condensed to generate nano particles. A conventional nano particle generator for generating nano particles using the gas condensing method will be described below.
The conventional nano particle generator includes a body formed in the shape of an electric heating furnace to maintain high temperature, a tube extending through the body, a container disposed in the center of the tub to receive a material from which nano particles are to be formed, and a heating body mounted between inner and outer walls of the body at the region corresponding to the container.
When the heating body is heated while a fluid, such as air, flows along the tube of the nano particle generator with the above-stated construction, the interior temperature of the body is increased. As a result, the tube is heated, and therefore, the interior temperature of the tube is increased. When the temperature applied to the material exceeds a predetermined temperature level, the material is evaporated with the result that gas is generated from the material. The gas is condensed by the fluid flowing along the tube to generate nano particles. The generated nano particles are discharged out of the body along with the fluid.
When the temperature of the electric heating furnace, the flow rate of the fluid flowing along the tube, and the size of the container to receive the material are controlled in the nano particle generator with the above-stated construction, it is possible to generate nano particles having a size of 1 to 100 nm and a concentration of 106 to 108/cm2.
In the conventional nano particle generator that generates nano particles using the gas condensing method, however, the interior temperature of the body, which has a large space, must be increased to from several hundred degrees to several thousand degrees. As a result, power consumption is increased.
Also, a large space is needed between the heating body and the material. As a result, it is difficult to reduce the size of the nano particle generator.
Furthermore, several materials having different evaporation temperatures cannot be evaporated at the same time in a single nano particle generator. As a result, it is not possible to generate nano particles having various characteristics.